Black Mountain will open this winter after all

Skiing

In a reversal, the New Hampshire ski mountain will announce an opening date soon.

A longtime New Hampshire ski mountain will open this winter after all, reversing its decision to close, which was announced last week on social media.

Black Mountain, in operation since 1935 and owned by the Fichera family since 1995, announced last week “the very difficult decision to cease operations” due to high energy costs, staffing shortages, unpredictable weather, and other challenges.

Then on Wednesday, Indy Pass, which sells ski passes to independently owned and operated ski areas at more than 180 locations worldwide, announced its support for the mountain, saying in a press release it would provide resources for the Fichera family to operate for one more season and find a buyer for “the beloved resort.”

Black Mountain is home to the first overhead cable ski lift in the country and “might just be the best kept secret in the Northeast,” The Boston Globe wrote in 2018.

Indy Pass said it will help sell Black Mountain as an operating ski area.

Erik Mogensen, founder of Indy Pass parent company Entabeni Systems, will “lead an industry-wide effort to find a sustainable solution,” according to the release.

“We all have a role to play in keeping skiing independent, and it is time to step up,” Mogensen said in a statement. “We are not interested in owning ski resorts but are firmly committed to supporting independent operators like Black Mountain. The struggles that John and his family overcame for decades are the same struggles many ski areas across the country are facing everyday.”

The Fishera family wrote the following this week on Facebook:

“The Fichera family and Indy Pass are proud to announce that Black Mountain will open for the coming season. We understand how important Black Mountain is to the community, and that skiing and riding should not be something for a privileged few. Together, we will get Black Mountain open for another season and work towards finding a buyer that will keep it open indefinitely.”

GM John Fichera said, in the release, that he joined Indy Pass to “boost awareness and generate a few skier visits,” and never realized that the partnership would be “so vital to the survival of Black Mountain as an independent ski area.”

Indy Pass will work with Andy Shepard, who has helped to turn around other struggling ski areas, according to the company.

Black Mountain will announce an opening date soon, according to Indy Pass, and season passes for the 2023/2024 will be honored and available for purchase at blackmt.com.